Nicky Hayden of USA and Red Bull Honda World Superbike team looks on in box during the FIM Superbike World Championship - Free Practice at Misano World Circuit on May 12, 2017 in Misano Adriatico, Italy. (Mirco Lazzari/Getty Images)

Former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden Dies After Collision

Champ succumbed to injuries five days after bicycling accident.

According to the BBC, 35-year-old Nicky Hayden succumbed to injuries five days after the American motorcycle legend was involved in a bicycling accident on the coast of Italy.

Last Wednesday, Hayden’s bicycle collided with a car during a training exercise, and the former champ was in intensive care for days with “serious cerebral damage.”

Known as the “Kentucky Kid,” Hayden was riding for Red Bull’s Honda World Superbike team at the time of his death, and had in 2006, won the MotoGP World Championship.

Hayden’s brother, Tommy, also a motorcycle racer, wrote in a statement on Red Bull’s website that “Although this is obviously a sad time, we would like everyone to remember Nicky at his happiest—riding a motorcycle. He dreamed as a kid of being a pro rider and not only achieved that but also managed to reach the pinnacle of his chosen sport in becoming World Champion. We are all so proud of that.”